Decent Q/V + Low IR - How to make up?

[menggg]

Dear Manhattan GMAT Consultants,

I wrote GMAT for twice and here are my scores:
1. 640 IR=7, AWA = 6
2. 740 IR=3, AWA still waiting for the official

I have 3 years of experiences in strategy consulting and financial services and I'm targeting top 10 MBA programs (applying this year, 2nd round)

My questions are:
1. Would the low IR for the 2nd time affect my application?
2. If it does, would the schools (top 10) consider the fact that I got a decent IR score the first time I wrote it?
3. Any advices to make up for the low IR score without retaking GMAT?

Thanks a ton!

[StaceyKoprince]

I'm happy to tell you what I know, but you should really ask an admissions consultant. (I'm a GMAT expert, not an admissions expert!)

Also, nice job on your overall test!

I haven't heard of any schools this year saying that they are actually using the IR score, so if you are applying this year, then it probably does not matter. In future years, the schools could decide to start factoring the score into their decisions, but we don't know when this might start, nor do we know how they'll factor the scores in. They might decide that getting one high score is enough, even if that wasn't on the same test as your high Q and V scores.

So, since you're applying this year, I think you're probably fine - but go into our Ask An Admissions Consultant folder to see what they think!